When Matt Severin went house hunting back in 2002, he sought a single-story home with a generous yard and an easy commute to his dental practice in Millard. He found that home—a red brick, midcentury ranch on a 2/3-acre lot with tons of mature trees—in the Greenbrier subdivision near 114th and Pacific streets.
He stayed content in the abode for nearly two decades.
Then life took a few unexpected turns that transformed his life, and eventually his home, for the better.
Matt found love later in life with Kim, and the two married in 2017, creating a beautiful, albeit sometimes complicated, blended family. Kim stayed in Wahoo until her youngest son graduated high school, then moved in with Matt in 2019.
“The house was 2,000 square feet with two bedrooms, a full bath, and a powder room,” Matt said. “It’s pretty unusual for a home that size to have just two bedrooms, but it was just perfect for us,” Matt said of that empty-nest time.
Then, in summer 2021, the couple decided to have Kim’s mom, Linda, 73, move in with them.
“A few months later, our granddaughter, Jade, came to live with us,” Kim explained. “She was 1 and a half at the time. We are her guardians now.”
Suddenly, the Severins had three generations living under their roof, with a shortage of bedrooms and privacy for the married couple. Space was crowded and tensions were high. In addition, outdated features of the 60-plus year-old home—too-small bathrooms, a dilapidated deck, basement laundry, etc.—became more obvious, some posing safety hazards for Linda and Jade.
Committed to staying, the couple hired the design-build services of KRT Construction in 2022 to help them reimagine their home. KRT created a new floor plan, interior design, and home addition to serve everyone’s needs while setting up Kim and Matt to age in place. The family moved into an apartment during the throws of renovation, with the project wrapping up in eight months.
“We do a lot of listening for what (our clients) want to accomplish, what is most important, and the design rolls from there,” said Kent Therkelsen, an architect and owner of KRT Construction. “For multiple family members to live together, everyone needs their own space so you don’t cramp each other…where you can be your own person."
He continued, “That was the driving theme with the Severins. We’re doing a lot more of these projects, creating spaces for an aging parent in the home.”
To create separate areas, KRT built a 400-square-foot addition on the rear of the home for a private retreat for Matt and Kim. The vaulted space includes a spacious bedroom with a sitting area for unwinding after a day of work and caregiving. French doors lead to a walk-in closet and generous bathroom with a marbled shower and soaking tub, a must-have for Kim. Oversized windows provide soothing views of the wooded backyard, and an exterior door gives direct access to a new outdoor paver patio with gas fire pit.
The original master bedroom and a bathroom were converted into a second bedroom suite for Linda, with room for a TV/sitting area, a kitchenette, an updated bathroom with a large shower and grab bars, and a stackable washer-dryer closet for her convenience.
“We made sure both suites were handicap accessible—the doorways wide enough, the turning radius wide enough for a wheelchair in front of the sink area, for instance,” Therkelsen said.
The living room saw new can lighting installed, an updated stone fireplace hearth, and removal of an old built-in entertainment unit, while a third bedroom for Jade was created by closing in a pass-through dining room. A unicorn mural wall, rainbows, and pink bedding now accent the girly space.
The biggest change in the home came in the kitchen, which absorbed an old sunroom and breezeway to more than double in size and received a vaulted ceiling with beams that span nearly 30 feet.
“They have lots of family in town, so now they have a big gathering spot,” Therkelsen said. “We also made a main-floor laundry room out of an old den and a walk-in pantry…nobody had a big pantry back in the ‘50s. And we raised the floor where there used to be steps down to the garage, so it’s one level and doesn’t divide up the room or pose a falling hazard.”
The totally renovated kitchen now features a modern, mostly white aesthetic with high-end appliances, including a gas stovetop—a must-have for Matt, the resident chef—and a large quartz-topped island where Kim and Jade, now 5, love to spend time baking together.
“Jade loves to sit at the island, up high on her stool…She calls it the mountain,” Kim said with a chuckle.
Another favorite feature is the kitchen bar area, with backlit, open shelving and a gold-accented tile backsplash, which the couple modeled after a bar they’d seen on a Street of Dreams home tour. Colorful art prints of the Crescent City sit on display.
“We had our honeymoon in New Orleans…We love the music, the food, the culture. Lots of great memories there,” Kim said.
Matt had a strong desire to keep the exterior look of the house the same, which meant keeping the red brick and making the addition look like it had always been there. The KRT team made it happen. “It was a challenge to make the new windows work in the openings, since sizing was different [in the 1950s],” Therkelsen added.
The Severins are certainly happy with their decision to remodel and stay in the home. Jade now attends preschool at nearby St. Robert’s Bellarmine School, and Kim is a second-grade teacher assistant there as well. Linda is overjoyed with the living arrangement, and Matt and Kim have the privacy they need to love their home again.
Therkelsen said helping clients find renovation success is the ultimate goal. “Working with homeowners where everyone is trusting each other and everyone ends up happy…After 32 years of doing this, those are the types of jobs we like to do.”
This article originally appeared in the March/April 2025 issue of Omaha Home Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
